Kinam is the most expensive and precious kind of Agarwood, very rich in glutinous resins and fragrance smells and it has anasthetic, bitter, hot and mint taste. A gentle and dignified smell with a touch of bitterness. The fragrance is like an aristocrat in its elegance and gracefulness.
For chinese medicine herbs, believe to cure cancer and other diseases.
Kinam can found in Indochina Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, especially in Vietnam.
According to Kyozaburo Nakata of Baieido Co.,Ltd. the name Kinam comes from the local language of the Campus of South Vietnam who were early traders of Kyara. The name derives from the combination of the Sanskrit word for black “Kala” and the Chinese word for tree “Bak” Together theyformed Kalambak and later the name was changed to Kinam.
Kinam always sell by Kilogram weighing. Real Kinam is very hard to found and very expensive. The market price for Real Kinam is more 20,000 USD per KG.
In this present, Japan is the biggest market for Kinam. And appears to be only country to exclusive clubs of this Kinam Agarwood.
Japanese millionaire wants this Kinam and Super Grade a lot. There are two major families in Japan, employment in Vietnam and Thailand, for this particular type of wood. Price very high wages per year.
Therefore, if any agarwood hunter in any forest in Indochina found this kind of wood, they will come and sell to this two companies and they paid unlimited.
Kinam is an aphrodisiac, both in oil form, and as incense. These are generally topical uses but the oil is also sold in Vietnamese and Japanese pharmacies for internal use with the same goal.
Chinese medicine uses powdered of agarwood as a treatment for cirrhosis of the liver and as a director or focuser for other medicines. It has also been used as a treatment for lung and stomach tumors. Internal use of the powdered wood will also clean you out and give you lots of energy.
Don’t go grinding up your incense however, unless you are 100% sure of the quality and purity of the wood you are using. There are rumors of Chinese factories churning out luscious smelling but ultimately fake wood chips, made of the lowest possible grade agarwood soaked for a month in synthetic (European manufactured) oud.
As a perfume ingredient, oud is sought and bought by certain Perfume houses as a tiny but essential component of some of their high-class perfumes; Zeenat and Amourage are two examples.
The oil of oud is a diaphoretic; it will make you sweat, and beyond that, will connect you with something of the spirit world. It is important to note that there is no research done on this oil. We have access only to our own experiences. Oud symbolizes and calls forth that which connects us to the ancient, to the roots and soul of the earth, to the Garden of Eden and the Hand of God, to the timelessness of the spirit and the vibration of the ethereal world, to the basis of our primal selves and the completeness of existence.
Malaccensis Species, Kinam Grade,, (This grade is special grade that we extracted for special client who would like to especially ordered something different for him and family only.
Kinam Legend Grade is highly psychoactive. It is used for a spiritual journey, enlightenment, clarity and to bring the deep peace necessary for meditation. It is recommended by experienced practitioners for providing motivation and the necessary devotion for meditation. It brings communication with the transcendent, refreshing your mind, body and spirit.
This method is different method from generally distillation..Generally distillation is steam or water distillation, the oil will extracted by water and steam and mixed with the water before separated by their qualification of oil. So the smelling of oil will be a little drop from their really Characteristic.
And for generally distillation, All of distiller always used the low grade of Agarwood chip (around 40 – 90 USD per KG.) for distillation.
For Kinam Legend Grade, the oil come from Extraction by vacuum state directly from the chip and not passed the water. It’s very hard to extracted for each gram. And we always used the High grade of Agarwood chip (2,600 USD per KG up) and their age are 100 years up, for extracted because the plenty of resin in the wood and their smelling.
After we extracted the oil from the chip,we have to keep the oil at least 2 year before we delivered to special client. So this Legend Level Grade, we can extracted just 360 grams per month only.
So Kinam Legend Grade, their smelling will be appear on their real Characteristic and the Purest for Agarwood oil 89 USD/gram
After the highest grades of wood have been put aside to be sold as incense chips, the remaining agarwood is used for distilling oud oil. But there’s more to it than just boiling heaps of wood.
The first factor that governs the quality of the final oud oil is the quality of the agarwood chips used for distillation. While it is unfeasible to use the highest grades of agarwood to distill oil – lower quality, but still incense grade, wood is used to produce the highest quality of oud oils. The more infected the wood is, the more the resin in the wood that can be distilled.
The age of the tree also has its mark on the final oil. Older trees have a higher resin content, and oud resin gets better with age, much like wine.
The wood is chopped up into small pieces for distillation, and the dust produced from polishing and finishing the incense grade chips is also collected. The wood is commonly soaked in barrels of water for some time to make it easier for the oil to come out when heated.
This is the second factor that governs the quality and smell of the agarwood oil.. Soaked for too short a period of time, the resin might not be as easy to extract from the wood. Soaked for too long, the oil will smell rotten and fecal. Expert distillers have fine-tuned this technique, and have deciphered how long a certain wood should be soaked.
After the soaking process is over, the wood is placed in large stills and has to be cooked at just the right temperature/pressure. This is the third factor that will affect the smell of the oil. Most distillers, in order to save money, cook the wood at very high temperatures and pressures. This is done in the hope of sucking out as much of the agarwood oil in the shortest period of time possible, to cut down labour, fuel, water, and electricity costs.
But the effect of this is clearly discernable in the yielded oil. Pungent, burnt and harsh are some words to describe such oils.
Using the traditional Indian hydro-distillation method, the wood is cooked for several days. The best quality oil comes out first, usually in the first 1-3 days of cooking. This is often referred to as the ‘first distillation’. After this, the wood is cooked further and the second grade of oud is extracted.
Since hydro-distillation is more time and resource consuming, some distillers prefer to use steam distillation.
The type of distillation method used is the fourth factor that affects the smell of the agarwood oil.
Steam distillation entails cooking the oil under gauged pressure using steam instead of boiling water. Oil can be extracted using this technique in as little as one day. However, setting too high a pressure can result in the precious top notes of the oil’s scent acquiring a burnt tar note, so this too takes practice and experience.
The careful control of the pressure is the fifth factor that governs the smell of the oud oil, for steam-distilled oil.
While the traditional hydro-distillation method is commonly used in India, Thailand and Cambodia, steam-distillation is most common in Indonesia, but is also used in Thailand and elsewhere.
There are also other methods of extracting oud oil, like super critical CO2 extraction, but we have dealt with the two most common methods.
After the oil has been distilled, it is filtered, sunned, and aged for a while. The more the oil is aged, the better it will smell.
These were the ‘behind the scene’ processes that take place to produce oud oil.
Several years ago, in the perfume and incense market in the old city of Sana’a in Yemen, I caught sight of a large apothecary jar full of wood chips. The jar sat on a dusty shelf, tucked away in a dark corner of the stall owned by Mohammed Hamoud al-Kalagi. When I asked him to show me its contents, he placed the jar on the front counter and pulled out a chip of wood. Mohammed called the wood ‘ud (pronounced ood), a name I did not recognize, but it looked very familiar. I could hardly contain my growing sense of excitement as I examined it closely.
Mohammed placed a tiny sliver of the wood on the end of a lit cigarette. Within moments we were inhaling a rich, sweet, woody fragrance that I had first smelled in the Borneo rain forest 15 years earlier. At that time, I was traveling with a group of nomadic hunter-gatherers known as Penan. We were looking for herbs used in traditional medicine, but one day the Penan cut down a tree and collected pockets of fragrant wood from within the trunk and branches. They called these dark patches of wood gaharu. I rubbed a small piece of gaharu between my palms to warm it, and it smelled like cedar and sandalwood, but with subtle fragrance notes of roses and balsam. For years I had wondered what the wood was used for and where it was sent after leaving Borneo. The Penan thought gaharu might be used in Chinese medicine,, because it was the upriver Chinese traders that bought it, but apart from that, they were mystified as to why anyone would want to buy those gnarly bits of wood.
Mohammed al-Kalagi, who thought that ‘ud came only from India, was the first person to help me begin to unravel the long and convoluted history of this scented wood. He told me it was burned as incense throughout the Islamic world, and an oil was extracted from it that retailed for nearly $20 a gram ($500 an ounce) as a perfume.
When I told Mohammed that the gaharu collectors in Borneo considered the wood to have only a modest barter value, he laughed and recited lines that he attributed to the eighth-century Egyptian jurist and poet Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi’i:
Gold is just dust when still in the ground.
And ‘ud, in its country of origin,
Is just another kind of firewood.
A few days after my visit, I walked through the narrow streets of old Sana’a to the home of Yemeni friends. The family lived in a tastefully restored stone tower house in the Turkish Quarter, and during the meal that night I discovered that ‘ud has domestic uses beyond simple incense: A small chip placed amid the tobacco in the bowl of the mada’ah, or water pipe, sweetens the smoke and keeps the pipe fresh. And although ‘ud is generally considered more of a man’s scent, it is also used by women who place bits of the wood in a mabkharah, a small, hand-held charcoal brazier used to scent clothes; it is also used to perfume hair and skin. My host explained that at women’s get-togethers it would be considered strange not to pass around a mabkharah of smoldering ‘ud or other incense so the female guests could perfume themselves.
“When you walk by a woman on the street and you smell ‘ud, you know that she is from a good family,” the husband told me.. “It is a sign of wealth, good breeding, refinement and status.”
Similarly, when Yemeni men congregate, it is customary for them to pass around a mabkharah of ‘ud. Each man opens his jacket and censes his shirt and underarms, then his face and his mashedah, or head scarf, if he is wearing one. The mabkharah is always passed counter-clockwise, and each man wafts the smoke onto himself and says, “God’s blessings and peace on the Prophet Muhammad.” ‘Ud is burned ceremonially at weddings, too, and the oil is sometimes used to perfume the body of the dead before burial.
In Yemen, the price and quality of ‘ud varies considerably: At an average wedding party in Sana’a it is considered appropriate to spend about $30 to $50 by burning 50 or 100 grams (two or three ounces) of one of the less expensive grades of ‘ud, but for the well-heeled, 30 grams (a single ounce) of a superior grade can set one back $250 to $300.
Before I left the dinner party that night, my host placed a tiny drop of ‘ud oil on the front of my shirt and explained that the fragrance would survive several washings—which it did. ‘Ud oil is often placed on older men’s beards or younger men’s jacket lapels so that during the traditional cheek-to-cheek greetings its sweet, woody scent dominates.
Although the southern Arabian Peninsula has been long identified with aromatics, few Westerners are familiar with ‘ud, a word that means simply “wood” in Arabic. This obscurity is partly due to ‘ud rarity and cost, but it is also a matter of varying taste and differing cultural traditions. During the Hajj, for example, Muslim pilgrims from around the world come to Makkah and Madinah, where many are introduced to the scent of ‘ud, which is burned in the Great Mosque as well as in many other mosques throughout Saudi Arabia. ‘Ud produces a fragrance that is not soon forgotten, and for this reason small packets of ‘ud chips are a common souvenir to take home from the Hajj.
In various other places in the Islamic world, ‘ud is burned to help celebrate the important events of everyday life. In Tunisia, for example, ‘ud is burned on the third, seventh and 40th days following the birth of a child, a time when the mother traditionally remains at home while female relatives and friends come to visit.
Throughout Malaysia and Indonesia, ‘ud is called by the name I first heard in Borneo, gaharu, a Malay word derived from the much older Sanskrit term agaru, meaning “heavy.” The scented wood was given that name because, indeed, a high-quality piece of gaharu will sink in water. The Susruta Samhita, one of the “great three” texts of Ayurvedic medicine, describes how people of the Ganges plain used smoldering agaru for worship, as perfume and to fumigate surgical wounds. In those times, agaru came largely from the tree Aquilaria agallocha, which was found in the foothills of Assam.
In the 16th century, the Portuguese, who were actively trading in Goa, Malacca and Macao, adapted the word agaru to pao d’aguila, or “eagle wood”—which at least had a meaning in Portuguese, though there is no connection between eagles and ‘ud. In the English-speaking world today, the most common terms for ‘ud are aloeswood or agarswood; this last word preserves a clear link to the original Sanskrit.
The best grade of ‘ud is hard, nearly black and very heavy. In general, ‘ud becomes inferior as it appears lighter in tone, flecked with diminishing amounts of resin. The only truly reliable way to test for quality, however, is to burn a small bit and evaluate the complexity and richness of the smoldering wood. ‘Ud oil can be taste-tested: Touch a bit to your tongue, and a bitter taste points to high quality.
Historians are uncertain when ‘ud first reached the Middle East. There are several references to “aloes” in the Old Testament, and estimates by historians of China Friedrich Hirth and W.W. Rockhill put the date as far back as the 10th century BC. This was when King Solomon began trade with the south Arabian Sabaean kingdom, which was already trading with merchants on the Malabar (western) coast of India. (See Aramco World, March/April 1998.) Written accounts of Arab and Chinese travelers and merchants that mention it date to more recent times, approximately the first century of our era, a time of accelerating trade among the Arabian Peninsula, the Malabar coast and China that was made possible by the exploitation of the seasonal monsoon winds across the Indian Ocean. At this time, frankincense and myrrh from Oman and the Hadhramaut region of southern Arabia were being traded in the Far East, so it seems reasonable to assume that a reciprocal trade in ‘ud would have traveled on the same maritime routes.
The Chinese role in the ‘ud trade has been significant since the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), when Imperial perfume blenders used it along with cloves, musk, costus-root oil and camphor. Like the Indians, the Chinese named the wood for its density, calling it cb’en hsiang, “the incense that sinks in water.” In those days, ‘ud was sorted into as many as 20 different grades. Responding to the increasing domestic and international demand for ‘ud, Chinese traders ventured into Annam, now part of Vietnam, where they found top-quality trees in abundance. This new source of supply allowed them to become wholesale dealers and middlemen, and to this day they retain this position worldwide.
Arab and Persian traders had established settlements on the outskirts of Canton as early as 300, and a Chinese traveler named Fa-Hien noted the riches of the Arab ‘ud traders from the Hadhramaut and Oman who lived comfortably in Ceylon. The Greek geographer Cosmas Indicopleustes, writing in the sixth century, also noted that the China-Ceylon-Middle East trade included large shipments of ‘ud.
In his book Silsilat al-Tawarikh (Chain of Chronicles), Zayd ibn Hassan of Siraf (now in Iran) tells of the experiences of two mnth-century traders, one Ibn Wahab of Basra and another named Suleyman. Although they traveled at slightly different times, both reported that the price and availability of ‘ud in both Basra and Baghdad was much affected by frequent shipwrecks and by pirate attacks on trading ships. Their roughly similar routes went from the Arabian Gulf to the Maldives, Ceylon, the Nicobar Islands and then on to Canton by way of the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea. At the time, the round-trip took at least two years, for the traders had to wait for seasonal winds, and customs formalities and the complexities of doing business in China consumed a good deal of time. Hassan relates that in Canton, Suleyman saw Arab and Persian traders playing a board game that appears to have been similar to backgammon: Occasionally the playing pieces were made of rhinoceros horn or ivory, but most commonly they were carved from fragrant ‘ud.
Reading up on the history of the 12th- and 13th-century Arab-Chinese sea trade, I also came upon the Chu-fan-chi, a trade manual written by Chau Ju-kua, who was a customs official in the southern Chinese province of Kwangtung in the mid-13th century. In the text he mentions that the search for ‘ud had intensified to the point that it was being collected from Hainan Island, parts of present-day Vietnam, lands about the Malay Peninsula, Cambodia and the islands of Sumatra and Java. By this time, he observed, it had become an established custom for well-to-do Muslims to wake up, bathe and perfume themselves with ‘ud smoke before going to the mosque for the morning prayer.
In the early 14th century, Ibn Battuta described a visit to Ceylon where during a visit to Sultan Ayri Shakarwati he was shown “a bowl as large as a man’s hand, made of rubies, containing oil of aloes.” Ibn Battuta also mentioned that in Muslim lands every ‘ud tree was private property, and that the best trees grew in Qamara, or Cambodia. (See Saudi Aramco World, July/August 2000.) In Saudi Arabia today, ‘ud kambudi—Cambodian aloeswood—is still usually the most treasured and costly variety.
Isaac H. Burkill, in his 1935 Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula, described ‘ud in scientific terms. It is an aromatic resin deposit found in certain species of Aquilaria trees, especially Aquilaria malaccensis, whose species name recalls the days when the ‘ud trade was centered in Malacca and dominated by the Portuguese. Burkill explains that the resin is produced by the tree as an immune response to a fungus (Phialophora parasitica) that invades the tree and, over many years, spreads through it. It is these diseased sections of the tree that are collected by people in the jungles of Southeast Asia.
To better understand the modern trade cycle from Southeast Asia to Middle Eastern homes and mosques, I returned to Borneo and traveled upriver to talk again with the Penan tribesmen who make their living collecting ‘ud, which they call gaharu.
The Penan, I learned, recognize seven types of gaharu. To collect it they paddle up small tributaries by dugout canoe, and then climb the slopes of remote mountains to locate the best trees. A gathering journey can take a week or more. Once a likely looking pohon kayu gaharu (a “gaharu-wood tree”) has been found, they make a series of shallow, exploratory cuts into its trunk, branches and roots; they cut it down only when they are persuaded the tree has the fungus and will yield a reasonable amount of good gaharu. If the tree contains only low grades of gaharu, they will often let it grow for another few years before retesting it. If they do decide to cut it down, they will spend days extracting the gaharu and cleaning it with smaller knives. Traditionally, the Penan used gaharu themselves to treat stomach aches and fevers, and as an insect repellent, but now they sell or trade all they find.
In the backwaters of Borneo, the Penan sell the very best gaharu for about $400 a kilogram, or approximately $12 an ounce. They usually sell to local Chinese traders who stockpile it until they have enough to send to wholesalers and bigger middlemen in Singapore. The Penan claim that gaharu is getting more difficult to find because large-scale logging operations have destroyed many of the hill forests where the gaharu trees are found. If a Penan group has good luck, it might collect a kilo (35 oz) of average-quality gaharu in three or four days—but it is increasingly common for them to return with nothing, or with only the lowest grades.
Thirty years ago Hong Kong played an important role in the ‘ud trade, but today the international hub is Singapore. There, the wholesale business is dominated by Chinese traders who receive ‘ud from agents scattered across Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Borneo, Hainan Island and, most recently, Irian Jaya, Indonesia. C. P. Ng, owner of Buan Mong Heng, a emporium on North Bridge Road, is Singapore’s undisputed ‘ud king. He tells me that his best ‘ud sells for $5000 to $10,000 per kilogram ($2275-$4545/lb). At present, the rarest and most expensive type, known as Keenam, comes from Vietnam; it must be stored in a cool place to keep its scent from deteriorating. In Irian Jaya alone, he says, more than 50,000 part-time collectors supply some 30 collection centers. Throughout the Chinese community in Singapore, he says, people use ‘ud as incense in the home, for worship and during marriage ceremonies. He also explains that it can be taken with herbs to cure a stomach ache, and that the sweet smell is a cure for insomnia. “A tea made from ‘ud will warm the body and restore youthful vigor to older men,” he says.
In Singapore, ‘ud is graded in descending quality from Super AA, which is weighed out on a jeweler’s scale, to Super A, Super, and lesser grades numbered 1 through 8. The lowest quality, called kandulam in Malay, is used to make incense sticks; it sells for roughly three cents a gram ($1 per oz). The value of ‘ud shipped out of Singapore each year has been estimated to exceed $1.2 billion.
In the Middle East and in Borneo I never saw more than small amounts of ‘ud, amounting to a few pounds at most, but Singapore was different. There I visited the Nk Kittai warehouse, where cardboard boxes packed with ‘ud reached tall ceilings and wheelbarrows and shovels were the tools of choice to move quantities that perfumed the entire surrounding neighborhood. The owner, C. F. Chong, waited on buyers from India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and even Japan. In Japan, ‘ud is used in a complex fragrance guessing game called koh-do, part of the ceremonial appreciation of incense adopted from the Chinese, who still use the expression wenxiang, “listening to the incense.”
The fragrance in the hot warehouse was overpowering, and as I wandered the narrow aisles surrounded by a fortune in scented wood, I saw ‘ud logs as thick as my thigh and nearly three meters (10’) long. Workers sat on the floor cleaning up pieces of ‘ud with modified rubber-tapping knives. When I remarked that it must be a risk to store so much ‘ud in one place, Chong replied that he, like other dealers, kept his very best ‘ud locked up in vaults.
Out on the warehouse floor, buyers specified the type of ‘ud they wanted by region and quality, and then a worker would dump a pile at the buyer’s feet so that he could hand-select the individual pieces. “This is an on-the-spot business,” said Chong. “Each piece has to be evaluated.”
Each buyer’s selection was weighed, and as all of the buyers that morning were old customers, only a minimal amount of haggling led to an agreement on a price. Nobody, it seemed, bought more than he could easily carry by hand, and each parcel was tied up for stowage as in-flight baggage. The visits concluded with tea and soft drinks in Chong’s air-conditioned office.
Before leaving Singapore, I went to visit Haji V. Syed Mohammed. His shop, V. S. S. Varusai Mohamed & Sons, is just across the street from the Sultan Mosque. The store sells ‘ud, perfume, money belts, cassette tapes, shawls, skull caps and highly decorative incense burners made in Bangladesh. While we were talking, he told me of one of the most renowned ‘ud dealers in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates: Ajmal’s Perfume Manufacturing & Oudh Processing Industry. It was a fortuitous meeting, for Dubai was my next stop.
In Dubai, there are entire streets lined with shops selling ‘ud. Among them, the family-run Ajmal company is one of the largest dealers in pure and blended ‘ud perfumes in all of the Middle East. From their 22 shops throughout the Arabian Peninsula, they sell ‘ud oils from Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, and their most extravagant creation is a blend of aged ‘ud oils called Dahnal Oudh al-Moattaq. The price: $850 for a 30-gram (1-oz) bottle. This is out of the reach of all but the most affluent, but nearly everyone can afford to buy modest amounts of ‘ud chips for daily use, rituals and ceremonies—which might include driving, for Dubai automotive shops sell clip-on electric braziers that plug into a car’s cigarette lighter.
Because of the popularity of ‘ud, its high price and the difficulty of collecting it from the wild, several companies in peninsular Malaysia and India have begun to look into the possibility of artificially introducing the ‘ud fungus into Aquilaria trees in hopes of creating commercial ‘ud plantations. Thousands of trees have been inoculated with the fungus and people are waiting to see if the ‘ud will start to grow, and if perhaps they can even harvest it without cutting down the tree.
Nearly a year after my visits to Singapore and Dubai, another trip took me back to Borneo. I ran into a group of Penan friends at the riverside shop of Towkay Yong Khi Liang, a Hakka Chinese trader on the upper Limbang River in Sarawak. The Penan had just traded a kilo of low-quality ‘ud for a few sacks of sago flour, a replacement part for a chainsaw, some cartons of tinned food, some rolling tobacco, several pairs of cheap tennis shoes and soft drinks for everyone present.
As we stood on the dock, the Penan asked me if I had ever found out what the people in the Middle East did with the gaharu. I told them what I had discovered about the history of its trade, and then I explained the long and complicated journey it makes before arriving on the other side of the world. I described the networks of middlemen, the refined grading techniques and the marketing efforts that multiplied the price 25 times or more before it reached the final customer. They listened patiently to these facts, but what they really wanted to find out was what people did with the wood after spending so much money on it.
I suspected that they wouldn’t believe me, but I had to reveal the astonishing truth: I told them people buy ‘ud so that they can take it home and burn it.
Much like musical notes make up a song and various shades of colors turn into a painting, fragrance notes are necessary to make a perfume / oud. Overall, there are three note scales that when blended together create the perfume’s fragrant accord. Each of these levels, however, has its own primary purpose.
Top Notes
Also sometimes referred to as the opening notes or head notes, the top notes of a fragrance are generally the lightest of all the notes. They are recognized immediately upon application of the perfume.. The top notes are also the first to fade given their light molecular structure, but this does not mean they aren’t of utmost importance.
The top notes of a fragrance represent the first impression. How many times have you tested a fragrance only to be turned off right away? Why? Because the top notes didn’t make a lasting impression on you. It is hugely important that the top notes not only succeed at luring you in, but also smoothly transition into the heart of the fragrance.
Common fragrance top notes include citrus (lemon, orange zest, bergamot), light fruits (grapefruit, berries) and herbs (clary sage, lavender).
Middle Notes
The middle notes, or the heart notes, make an appearance once the top notes evaporate. The middle notes are considered the heart of the fragrance. They last longer than the top notes and have a strong influence on the base notes to come. A perfume’s heart is generally pleasant and well-rounded. It is ofen a smooth combination of floral or fruit tones; sometimes infused with spices like cinnamon, nutmeg or cardamom.
Common fragrance middle notes include geranium, rose, lemongrass, ylang ylang, lavender, coriander, nutmeg, neroli and jasmine.
Base Notes
The base notes are the final fragrance notes that appear once the top notes are completely evaporated. The base notes mingle with the heart notes to create the full body of the fragrance, but are typically associated with the dry-down period. The job of the base notes is to provide the lasting impression. These often rich notes linger on the skin for hours after the top notes have dissipated.
Common fragrance base notes include cedarwood, sandalwood, vanilla, amber, patchouli, oakmoss and musk.
Without the combination of the three levels of notes, a fragrance / Oud just wouldn’t be aromatically appealing. But together, they create beautiful scents.
Sillage (pronounced as see-yazh) is a term used to describe a scented trail left by the fragrance wearer. It comes from the French word for “wake,” as in the trail left in the sky by an airplane or on the water by a boat. Sillage defines how fragrance diffuses around the wearer, and a strong sillage means that a fragrance projects well. Sillage has nothing to do with the richness of the composition, however, but rather with the diffusive nature of the materials that go into it. For instance, hedione, fresh floral notes and some types of musk are extremely diffusive and radiant, while retaining an airy, light character.
There are only three distillation methods for oud oil: steam, hydro and CO2 extraction. The latter is seldom used save in large-scale productions. The results are far from impressive, with a pasty, sticky, solid at room temperature wax as the end product. The scent is impaired by the extraction of non-resin particles along with the agarwood essence.
Steam distillation is widely used in Indonesia..Unsure about the benefits of using steam, considering that normally the oil is subjected to temperatures above 300 degrees fahrenheit. Some of our distillers harbor an intense dislike for steam distillation when it comes to oud. Yet some oud , were steam distilled.
Then we have classic hydro distillation. Simple chemistry: you boil the wood and the resin rises to the top; from there you funnel it into a glass vessel where it gathers over the course of several days, floating atop the water. This is the oldest, most widely used method in Southeast Asia and Assam. The oud oils posted in this blog were extracted via this method.
Distillation can get real high tech, with different material tubes for different steps of the process. You can have, for example, a stainless steel boiler with copper tubes that the oil travels through; or a fully stainless unit; or a fully copper one; or a copper still with stainless tubes; or different material tubes for different parts of the process. The possibilities are endless.
With steam distillation, you get agarwood oil that was heated up to a certain temperature and then separated from the condensed steam, with the resultant oil potentially impaired by the high temperature. In hydro distillation, the raw materials are in close contact with water for a period of several days or even months. The water has an almost magical effect on the oil, changing its character dramatically depending on how long it stays immersed, the type of water it is boiled in (spring, rain, ground water), the chemical breakdown of the water itself, salt and mineral content, etc.
Whether you get a fecal, a fruity or a woody, a dark or a light, a leathery or a green smelling oud oil depends a great deal on the water you use to cook the raw materials!
There are two main reasons for wearing oud: for one’s personal enjoyment, and for others.
It is an absolute delight studying the evolution of the complex smell of oud on your skin for hours, for your own enjoyment. Many specimens of oud evoke olfactory memories, and it often becomes a fun exercise trying to identify them.
For one’s personal enjoyment, it is recommended to apply the oil to one’s outer forearm,, 2 – 3 inches above the wrist. Even a tiny amount, the size of a cumin seed, will be sufficient. This is then gently dabbed below the jaw line.
Needless to say, oud oil is so potent that even this tiny amount you apply can scent the entire room you are in.
It is important that you do not rub too hard. There should be a sheen remaining on your arm, after applying to the neck. The skin is highly absorbent, and rubbing too hard will make the oil (and the scent) disappear much faster. It can also damage the scent molecules.
Moisturizing your skin will also ensure that the smell lasts longer.
For the ultimate ‘broadcasting’ effect, there are two ways to use the oil:
Applying to your clothes, bracelet, or other item: This will give you the longest lasting smell as the oil will not be absorbed by the skin. For clothes, it is best to apply a bit to the shoulders, and some to the chest and back of your shirt.
Applying to the skin: while this will not last nearly as long, in most cases the smell will be much more appealing due to the unique chemistry between the skin and oud. Apply the oil just below your outer wrist, then smear it onto your neck. Once again, remember to keep a sheen remaining so don’t rub too hard!
About 1 – 2 healthy swipes of the dip stick should be used if you want to share the beautiful smell of oud with those around you.
Don’t forget that others might not be accustomed to the smell of oud like you! So do not over apply, even if you yourself can not detect too strong a smell. Remember that one’s own nose gets quickly accustomed to the scent due to olfactory fatigue. It’s usually a good idea after applying oud, that you wait about 15 minutes before meeting someone.
Different ouds have different scent lives, and different chemistries with the skin. You may find, for example, that you like your Indian oud best applied to the skin, while you like to have your Cambodian oud scenting your clothes.
What is oud?
Also known as agarwood, aloeswood and jinkou, oud is nature’s most exquisite fragrant offering.
Deep in a Far Eastern jungle, an evergreen tree is attacked by an infection. Much like our bodies’ immune system produces white blood cells, the tree starts producing a substance to combat the infection.
Over the years, the infection grows – as does the substance the tree produces. This is agarwood.
There are few natural aromatics that have as complex a scent spectrum as agarwood (oud). Natural ambergris, musk and rose also rank as some of the most valuable natural fragrances, but none come close to oud in the sheer transcendence and sublimity its fragrance boasts.
More than just a scent, oud can be mentally and spiritually engaging. In fact, specimens from different regions also seem to have an effect on a person’s emotions.
What is the difference between oud and attars/mukhallats/perfumes/colognes?
Attars, mukhallats, perfumes, colognes and other commercially sold fragrances are a combination of different ingredients.
In contrast to the above, with regard to its composition, pure oud oil is itself the fragrance, not being blended with any other ingredients.
This was in regard to the composition. As for the difference in their scents, then none of them can be compared to oud. While many attars and other fragrances can be quite pleasant, oud is more than just a scent, and it engages the one wearing it on many different levels.
Can I combine oud with other fragrances?
Absolutely.
If you are new to oud, you might find that you like it better blended with a cologne, attar or mukhallat because oud itself has a very powerful smell. You might want to tone it down a bit.
However, once you get more and more accustomed and addicted to the fragrance of pure oud,, you might become more reluctant to mix it with anything else.
And that is, in fact, giving oud its due right!
I heard oud is very strong, and I’m afraid I will be overwhelmed
It’s true that oud has one of, if not, the most powerful smell in the world of perfumery. But it is usually the initial hit after application and smelling it right out of the bottle that can be overwhelming for the unexperienced nose. That is why, we strongly recommend starting off by applying very tiny amounts, and not smelling the oils directly.
Over time, as your nose gets used to the smell, you will find the smell of oud an absolute delight in its entirety, from application to the dry down.
Which oud will I like the most?
We recommend you get samples of the different ouds. Many people absolutely love the earthy, barnyard and slightly fecal quality of Hindi (Indian) ouds, while others are all for the sweeter, more ethereal Indonesian specimens.
Ultimately, you may find that you like ouds from all the regions since they all have something unique to offer, even if they all vastly differ in their characters and scent profiles.
Why do different ouds smell so distinctive?
The climates the trees were grown in, the age of the trees, the distillation and aging techniques all have an effect on the smell of different ouds.
How long will the scent last on my skin?
Different oud oils have different scent lives on the skin. You will find some ouds that are of very high quality whose smell will fade before that of much lower grade specimens. The same oil, however, might be incredibly long-lasting if applied to clothes, bracelets, etc.
In general, every oud oil, should be discernable to your nose for a good 2 – 3 hours. After that, your nose may get used to the scent, but those around you will still be able to smell it for hours to come.
How long will a bottle of oud last?
The short answer is: it depends on how frequently you use the oil, and how much you apply.
Used for personal enjoyment, a bottle could last you a whole year or more with daily use. Oud, however, is generally not used as an every-day scent and so a bottle will probably last you much longer.
Is oud gender specific?
Absolutely not.
In the Gulf countries of the Middle East, where oud oil is most celebrated and used, men use oud for special occasions, parties and things of that sort. In Yemen, a gift of oud is an expected part of the dowry that the bride receives from the groom.
Oud is more than just a ‘scent’, which could be classified as masculine and feminine.
Rather, it has so much more to offer, and gender requisite is not a condition to be able to enjoy the offerings of this precious gift of nature.
When should I use oud?
You may initially find that you want to use oud for special occassions.
However, as is usually the case, you may find yourself loving oud so much that you will want to use it daily. In fact, some people even use it several times a day because they can’t get enough of it!
Where do Oud Oils get their distinct aroma?
Oud Oils owe their distinct aromatic scent to naturally-occurring organic compounds called terpenes and terpenoids.
Chemical composition of Oud Oils
A terpene is an organic compound which is widely produced by a variety of plants. These terpenes can be found in the essential oils and resins of plants as well as in the scent glands of flowers, and often are characterised by their strong smell and aromatic qualities.
Chemically, a terpene is an unsaturated hydorocarbon which consists of a combination of isoprene units (C5H8) and have the general formula (C5H8)n. Simple terpenes can be modified chemically through the natural process of oxidisation (reaction with oxygen in the air) to produce more complex compounds known as terpenoids. These natural terpenes and terpenoids are the major constituents of the essential oils of many plants and flowers.
Terpenes are structurally diverse and may take on different molecular structures despite having similar chemical formulae. Subtle variations in the basic terpene molecular structure have resulted in tens of thousands of unique terpene profiles present in our natural environment, each possessing its own unique chemical and aromatic qualities. Some plants may possess a particular terpene profile which gives the plant its distinct flavour. Other plants, on the other hand, may possess an endless variety and combination of terpene profiles, resulting in these plants having a wide diversity of possible aromas and flavours.
Why are Oud Oils so diverse in aroma?
Precisely because of their chemical composition (above). Different terpene profiles can be found even within the same species of agarwood tree. The type of terpene known as sesquiterpenes is an active compound in agarwood. The possible sesquiterpene chemical structures of each extracted agarwood essential oil are endless and coupled with the various rates of oxidation, would result in an even wider diversity of Oud scent profiles.
Factors which may affect a particular Oud Oil’s chemical composition and scent profile includes the age and quality of the agarwood tree’s fungal infection, the age, species, environmental conditions and geographical location of the agarwood tree, the age of the extracted oil and the amount of its exposure to air and sunlight (this affects oxidisation), the type of distillation used and the purity of the oil (blended v. pure, diluted v. undiluted).
Terpenes and terpenoids are known to contribute to the scent of eucalyptus, cinnamon, citrus, cloves, ginger, and menthol, among others, which are just some of the scent notes typically found in Oud.
A good oud can be known by its characteristic. Ouds all differ but one thing remains consistent amongst all the different species and that is the deep note.
When trying to understand the deep note of a quality oud you have to place a drop on the back of your hand and leave it for an hour..Then after an hour you should put your nose on the back of your hand and breathe out through your nose, then immediatly breathe in.
The smell should be continuous and take you on a journey that does not stop.
A fantastic oud will give a story of where it has lived and you can truely imagine the enviroment it grew in. Oils normally float on water but oud oil sinks because of its density. If an oud retails less than £100 it is usually not pure, it almost likely has been cut from a pure source. the reason being is that it takes 1kg of oud woodchips to extract 1ml of oud oil, plus delivery, distillery costs etc, so the cost of the process is a good sign to indicate any oud that retails less than £100 is cut.
Properties of Agar-wood
The fragrance of Agarwood can be described as intriguing and pleasant, with few or no similar natural analogues. As a result, Agar-wood and its essential oil gained great cultural and religious significance in ancient civilizations around the world, being mentioned throughout some of the world’s oldest written texts.
It is said the unique ability of the Agarwood is to gently touch your body, invigorate your mind, purify your spirit and calm your soul. Traditional Chinese medicine is known to use powdered Agar-wood as a treatment for cirrhosis of the liver. Agar-wood is aphrodisiac, thus often used as a cleansing agent of the body organs and boost one’s energy. The diaphoretic property of the wood qualifies it as an effective detoxification agent.
Benefitting from Agar-wood
Indisputably pervasive, the aroma of Agarwood can be described as rich and sentimental, sometimes balsamic and at times vanilla-like sweet. As such, they are extensively used as a ‘protective shield’ against negative energies. Where a space is sometimes ‘afflicted’ the use of Agar-wood is often used to maximum impact as a cure. This could be at home or in the office.
The most beneficial use of Agarwood remains its health returns and healing properties. Its holistic approach towards healing, improving mental capacity, calming of minds, meditative assistance and clearing mental blocks have been proven over the centuries. Insomnia, hyper-activity, disturbed sleep and difficulties in winding down could be easily solved with a small chip of Agar-wood no bigger than 2cm in a special burner in your bedroom. Children unable to focus will also benefit.
The first reason why oudh oil are expensive is it’s very hard to find it’s raw material. From all of the oudh trees in the jungles in Indonesia, only 10% of total population are fill with oudh resin. This made things harder since we cannot tell in which of the tree is really fill in with resin. So one thing or another you must cut the tree chop it and make it into pieces.
This make the second reason it need extensive labor, can you imagine cut down then chop down the tree into pieces even dug out it’s roots with only 1 or 2 people? And then you need to track the infection path on the tree chop the tree by follow this path.. It’s not an easy job, Then cleaning the resinous part. Done yet ? nope not yet. Since this is hardest and the scariest part. Transporting it out. Many crooks out there that want quick cash want this tree. Especially the filled ones.
The last reason why Oudh oil is expensive is the difficulties in extracting it out. Since scientifically proven that Oudh ren dement is very low 0.1% (that if you are lucky enough) so to get 100 Grams of Oudh Oil you will need at least 100 Kg of raw material. Distiller use left over from the chopping process since if they use the incense grade. It would a waste of money if distiller doing so since the wood itself sells. And in Oudh there are 2 substance impregnated inside the wood. These are the oil and the resin, the oil you can smell it when you burn it, the resin is what you see bubbling out from the wood. Both had their distinctive smell. So what happened if I distill high grade wood? Surely a gambling position. There is a big chance I lost the wood completely without gaining oil.
Also the complex part in distilling if you use temperature too high you will gain only water with Oudh odor no oil, even you had doing this distillation for 3 whole days non stop, so you need to check up the fire each and everytime. This is what happened in Indonesia mostly distiller are small scale family distiller not humongous distiller like in Thailand or Vietnam or India. They don’t use state of the art technology or correct distilling technique, they satisfied themselves when they gain oil. Since getting oil itself is an ever joy experience.
Agarwood Oil (Oud Oil, Aloeswood Oil, Eagleswood) is an extremely rare and precious natural Oil obtained from several species of Agarwood trees. This, which originates in North Eastern India, Bhutan and parts of South East Asia, has a very long history of use as a medicine, incense and as an aromatic Oil. Agarwood is a very complex, deep woody fragrance, reminiscent of amber. It has a balsamic, ambergris, woody, deep fragrance. Agarwood trees must be infected by a fungi, prior to producing an oleoresin which saturates the wood. Please realize that this Oil is from cultivated trees, and is not considered a high quality agarwood Oil. It is a very nice Oil (pure and unadulterated) at a very affordable price.
Oud Oil from the Agarwood Tree
Few perfume Oils have the mystique of Oud (this is also referred to as Agarwood, Aloeswood and Eaglewood). It has been loved and treasured for thousands of years, by mystics (as an aid to spiritual meditation) and romantics alike (as an aphrodisiac). Indeed, the hunger for Oud is so great that in most parts of the world Agarwood trees are nearing extinction. Most of the Agarwood on the market is now obtained through poaching (while trees dwindle, the demand keeps growing) because it exceeds $27.000 per pound.
Several decades ago, enterprising farmers in Thailand began a major replanting of Agarwood trees throughout the region. Agarwood nurseries have produced tens of thousands of healthy seedlings for Agarwood plantations, and everyone is being encouraged to once again plant these beautiful trees in their yards. Practicing organic, sustainable harvesting methods, these Agarwood plantations and extraction centers are providing good livings for honest families, and insure that these amazing trees will survive for generations to come. The Agarwood Oil they produce is extremely high quality. All the work is done by hand, with sincere respect and dedication for the trees and the land.
Another recent development to conserve the precious Aloeswood is the use of CO2 extraction instead of distillation. CO2 extraction does not use any solvent chemicals, making it environmentally-friendly. Instead, it uses the same carbon dioxide that is in soda pop. And because it doesn’t use any heat, Aloeswood CO2 extract has a much more vibrant fragrance that is truer to life. Aloeswood Oil from CO2 extraction smells earthy, woody and sweetly balsamic. It is rich and complex, not burned or musty-smelling like some heat-distilled Ouds. A good perfume house will provide affordable samples of their Oud. So as you shop for Oud, remember to find out how it was obtained, and how it was extracted. Support the people who truly love the Agarwood tree, not those who merely exploit it. Buy from a supplier with a good reputation who makes samples available.
Oud from a Agarwood tree is a many singular and dear redolence oil in a world. Overharvesting and poaching has brought a Agarwood tree tighten to extinction. Agarwood Oil is famous by each sacrament given ancient times.. People of Egypt Its monument has caused agarwood to turn a preferred and intensely costly oil. Agarwood has also been used in scarcely each eremite tradition around a universe The many costly Attars will use Sandlewood oil as a bottom as a pristine Frankincense and of march a many costly after deer redolence is oud or Agarwood oil.
Extract Essential Oils how to articles and videos including How Do we Extract Oil The Gaharu tree is famous by many names, including agarwood and the botanical name Making your possess redolence allows we to mix your favorite scents to rise a signature redolence all your possess while saving money. As distant behind as ancient Egypt, people Aromatherapy & Essential Oils how to articles and videos including Pressure Fluid
Applications of Agarwood:
The quality of Agarwood growing in different regions of the world used to vary a lot. However Agarwood products including Agarwood Incense, Agarwood oil & Agarwood chips produced are always considered the best in quality. It is the holy occasions where Aloeswood oil, Jinko Chips Oil & Oud oil find maximum use. These oils are so aromatic that they instantly create a spiritual atmosphere around.
Agarwood is cultivated in Singapore, Indonesia, China, Tibet & several other countries in the world. A wide array of products starting from Aloeswood beads & incense sticks to oils are made from them. Though oil is produced everywhere but the Indian Aloeswood oil is considered best among them. Due to its high quality & enduring aroma, India continues to draw the attention of international community till to date. While purchasing for Agarwood oil many fail to identify the pure oil & pay more price than it deserves. If the oil made from Aloeswood continues to smell the same even after 24 hours then it turns out to be of high quality.
Cosmetics Industry: It is commonly used in the day to day cosmetics products including soaps, candles, incenses, toiletries, cosmetics, perfume, & flavorings etc.
Alternative Medicine: Some of the alternative medicines like Traditional Chinese Medicine, Traditional Vietnamese Medicine, Tibetan medicine, Aromatherapy, Ayurveda, Aphrodisiac & Efficacious sedatives have been seen using Agarwood for years.
Indoor Air Quality & fumigation purpose: Agarwood based revitalizing solutions help us improve the indoor air quality and leads to fumigation.
Religious occasions & Spiritualism: The sweet fragrance of Agarwood encourages Hindus, Muslims, and Christians & Buddhists alike to use them in religious occasions, yoga & Deep meditation.
Additional uses: ornamental Agarwood Bead strings, statues, Carvings, Teas, Wines, Teas, Prayer rugs, Burial & Cremation are some other areas where Agarwood finds application.
Vietnam Agarwood 